Premier League 2018-19: How Arsenal could line up against West Ham this weekend
West Ham travel to the Emirates this Saturday for a game that will see the two London clubs fighting for their first Premier League points. Unai Emery's Arsenal sit at the bottom half of the table after two consecutive losses to Manchester City and Chelsea while Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham also stand with zero points after a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool and a 1-2 home loss to Bournemouth.
Clearly, the Arsenal squad have not adapted to Emery's tactics just yet. Emery himself is yet to figure out ways in which he can deploy four of his best players - Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan - on the pitch at the same time. It looks like it will take a fair amount of time until Emery figures out what works for the players and what doesn't.
While Arsenal will always be judged for their games against the 'Big Six', Emery has an important job on his hands. It still is a London derby. It still is a game. And he needs those three points if he is to prove that the first two games are not reflective of the entire season. Let's look into the possible starting XI for Arsenal ahead of the game.
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
While a lot of fans would love to see new signing Bernd Leno start for the team soon, it's likely that Emery will start Petr Cech once again, giving the keeper yet another chance to adapt to the new challenge.
Defence: Bellerin/Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Mustafi, Monreal
The bigger question now is Stephan Lichtsteiner. The former Juventus man is yet to make a start for the Gunners side and considering Bellerin's performances not only in the game against Chelsea but in previous games last season, a start for Lichtsteiner shouldn't seem far-fetched. Nacho Monreal will probably stay in the starting line-up as left-back, being the most reliable man for the job in the team at the moment as Sead Kolanisac and Maitland-Niles remain injured.
The center-back is the most settled and predictable position in the squad at the moment with Emery heavily relying on the pairing of Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
